The Sweetness of Forgetting

by Kristin Harmel

“Chérie, I am watching the stars disappear,” she said after a minute. “Why?” I asked. “Because even though you cannot see them, they are always there,” she said. “They are just hiding, behind the sun.” “So?” I asked timidly. She released me from the hug and bent down to look me in the eye. “Because, my dear, it is good to remember that you do not always have to see something to know that it is there.”

CANDIED ORANGE PEEL INGREDIENTS Four oranges 14 cups water, divided 2 cups granulated sugar DIRECTIONS 1. Peel all four oranges, taking care to remove the peels whole or in two pieces, if possible. 2. Cut the peels into thin strips 3. Boil 6 cups of water, and add the peels to the boiling water. Boil 3 minutes, drain, and rinse the peels, then repeat the same process again. (This gets rid of some of the bitterness of the orange peels.) 4. Mix remaining 2 cups water with 2 cups sugar and bring to a boil. Add the peels, reduce heat, and cover pot. Simmer for 45 minutes. 5.

“Mamie, was your family Jewish? Are you Jewish?” “Yes, of course,” she says, and I’m so startled at the immediacy of her reply that I take a step back. “You are?” I ask. She nods. Finally, she turns to look at me. “Yes, I am Jewish,” she says. “But I am also Catholic.” She pauses and adds, “And Muslim too.” My heart sinks. For a moment, I’d thought she was speaking with clarity. “Mamie, what do you mean?” I ask, trying to keep the tremor out of my voice. “You’re not Muslim.” “It is all the same, is it not? It is mankind that creates the differences. That does not mean it is not all the same God.”

Cape Codder Cookies INGREDIENTS 1 stick butter, softened 2 cups packed brown sugar 2 large eggs ½ tsp. vanilla extract 2 Tbsp. heavy cream 3 cups flour 2 tsp. baking soda ½ tsp. salt 1 cup dried cranberries 1 cup white chocolate chips DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 2. In a large bowl, cream together butter and brown sugar using electric mixer. Beat in eggs, vanilla, and cream. 3. Sift together flour, baking soda, and salt, and add to the butter mixture, approximately one cup at a time. Beat just until combined. 4. Add cranberries and chocolate chips. Stir to distribute evenly. 5. Drop heaping teaspoons onto a greased cookie sheet with room to spread. Bake 10–13 minutes. Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet, then move to a wire rack. MAKES APPROXIMATELY 50 COOKIES

Lemon-Grape Cheesecake INGREDIENTS 1 ½ cups ground graham cracker crumbs 1 cup granulated sugar, divided 1 tsp. cinnamon 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted 2 eight-ounce blocks of cream cheese ¼ cup white grape juice Juice and zest of one lemon 2 eggs DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix graham cracker crumbs, ½ cup sugar, cinnamon, and melted butter until well blended. Press evenly into an 8-inch pie pan. 2. Bake for 6 minutes. Remove from oven and cool. 3. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. 4. In a medium bowl beat cream cheese until smooth using an electric mixer. Gradually beat in remaining ½ cup sugar. Gradually add grape juice, lemon juice, lemon zest, and eggs, and beat until just smooth and lump-free. 5. Place cooled crust on a cookie sheet. Pour cream cheese mixture into crust. 6. Bake for 40 minutes, or until center of crust no longer jiggles.

Monsieur Haddam shakes his head. “There is no need to thank me. It was our duty. In our religion, we are taught, ‘Whoever saves one life, saves the entire world.’ ” Alain makes a strange strangled sound. “In the Talmud, it is written, ‘If you save one life, it is as if you have saved the world,’ ” he says softly. He and Monsieur Haddam look at each other for a moment and smile. “We are not so different, then,” Monsieur Haddam says. He looks at Henri and Simon, then back at Alain. “I never understood the discord between our religions. If there is one thing I learned from the time young Rose spent with us, it is that we are all speaking to the same God. It is not religion that divides man. It is good and evil here on earth that separates us.”

She knew only that Jean Michel, a Catholic, was taking her to another man who was part of the underground, too, a man named Ali, who was a Muslim. It was the sort of thing that would have made her smile—Catholics, Jews, and Muslims working together as one—had the world not been falling down around them.

One evening, after sitting with the Haddams while they said the Salah in Arabic, Rose was in her own room praying in Hebrew when she turned around and saw Nabi watching her. “Come, Nabi,” she said to the boy. “Sit with me while I pray.” He knelt beside her while she finished her prayers, and then they sat together in silence. “Rose?” he asked after a long while. “Do you think God speaks Arabic or Hebrew? Can he hear your prayers or mine?” Rose considered this for a moment and realized that she did not know the answer; she had begun to doubt recently that God could hear her at all, no matter what language she spoke. “I do not know,” she said finally. “What do you think, Nabi?” The boy thought about this for a long time before replying. “I think God must speak all the languages.” His tone was confident. “I think he can hear all of us.” “Do you think we are all praying to the same God?” Rose asked after a moment. “Muslims and Jews and Christians and all the people who believe in other things?” Nabi appeared to be considering this question quite seriously too. “Yes,” he finally told Rose. “Yes. There is one God, and he lives in the sky, and he hears all of us. It is just that here on earth, we are confused about how to believe in him. But what does it matter, as long as we trust he is there?”

North Star Blueberry Muffins MUFFINS INGREDIENTS Streusel topping (see recipe below) ½ cup butter 1 cup granulated sugar 2 large eggs 2 cups flour 2 tsp. baking powder ½ tsp. salt ¼ cup milk ¼ cup sour cream 1 tsp. vanilla extract 2 cups blueberries DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. 2. Prepare streusel as directed below. Set aside. 3. In a large bowl, using a hand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar. Add eggs, beating well. 4. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the butter-sugar mixture, alternating with the milk, sour cream, and vanilla. Mix until just fully combined. 5. Gently fold in the blueberries. 6. For oversized muffins, fill each muffin cup nearly to the top. Sprinkle generously with streusel topping. 7. Bake for 25–30 minutes, or until a knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in pan, then move to wire rack to cool completely. STREUSEL TOPPING INGREDIENTS ½ cup granulated sugar ¼ cup flour ¼ cup very cold butter, chopped into small cubes 2 tsp. cinnamon DIRECTIONS Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process with quick pulses, until mixture has consistency of thick crumbs. Sprinkle over unbaked muffins, as directed above.

“Oneness?” Annie asks. Elida turns to my daughter and nods. “We are Muslims, Annie, but we believe you are our sister, since you are Christian and come from a Jewish background. I married a Jewish man because I love him. Love can transcend religion. Did you know that? In the world today, there is too much division, but God made us all, did he not?”

Cinnamon Almond Cookies INGREDIENTS 2 sticks unsalted butter 1 ½ cups packed brown sugar 2 large eggs 1 tsp. almond extract 2 ½ cups flour 1 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 1 cup cinnamon sugar (¾ cup granulated sugar mixed with ¼ cup cinnamon) DIRECTIONS 1. In a large bowl, beat the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Add the eggs and almond extract and beat until well combined. 2. Sift together the flour, baking soda, and salt, and add to the butter mixture, approximately ½ cup at a time, beating after each addition, until well combined. 3. Divide the dough into 5 parts and roll into logs, wrap each in plastic wrap, and freeze until firm. 4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 5. Spread cinnamon sugar in a shallow dish. Unwrap logs and roll them in the sugar until liberally coated. 6. Slice the logs ¼-inch thick and place slices on greased baking sheets. Bake for 18–20 minutes. 7. Cool for 5 minutes on baking sheet, then transfer to racks to cool.

Life doesn’t work out the way we plan, but maybe it works out the way it’s supposed to after all. You know?”

Overnight Meringues INGREDIENTS 2 egg whites ½ cup white sugar 1 tsp. vanilla extract ½ cup chocolate chips DIRECTIONS 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 2. In a large bowl, beat the egg whites on high speed with a hand mixer until soft peaks form. 3. Add the sugar, ⅛ cup at a time, beating continuously. Continue to beat until peaks are stiff and stand up on their own. 4. Reduce mixer speed to low and beat in vanilla. 5. Fold in chocolate chips gently with a wooden spoon. 6. Drop by the teaspoon onto baking sheets covered in parchment paper. Try to make sure each mound has at least one chocolate chip. Mounds should easily hold their own shape. 7. Place pan in oven and immediately turn off heat. 8. Leave overnight. No peeking allowed! When you wake up the next morning, open the oven; the meringues will be done and ready to serve.

Life is a series of opportunities, and you have to have the courage to seize them, before the years pass you by and leave you with nothing but regrets.

What I wish for you, dear Hope, is a life lived fully. I wish you a life lived knowing that God exists everywhere you are, for he lives among the stars. And I wish you a life lived happily ever after, just like in the fairy tales I told you when you were a little girl. But you must go after that kind of life with all the strength of your heart. For it is only by loving, and having the courage to be loved in return, that you can find God, who exists most of all in your heart.